Almost nobody watches most Emmy-nominated shows: Survey

Los Angeles, Sep 16 (IANS) Nearly all of the series nominated for Best Drama or Comedy at the upcoming 69th Primetime Emmy Awards have been watched by fewer than half of all potential viewers, according to a new survey.

The survey was conducted by Katz Media Group, and it states that nearly half are shows that 50 per cent or more respondents had never heard of, reports variety.com.

Surveying 500 adults — 51 per cent of whom subscribe to a streaming service such as Netflix — Katz found that the most-watched and recognised Emmy nominees aired on broadcast, while the least could be found on cable or streaming.

The most-watched nominee, according to the survey, is “Modern Family”, which had been seen by 56 per cent of respondents. “This Is Us” was the second-most viewed at 35 per cent. “Black-ish” followed at 28 per cent.

The three most-watched series are also the only three broadcast series in contention.

“The main takeaway here is that we’re seeing fewer and fewer broadcast series nominated for Best Drama and Best Comedy, but the reality of it is that these other series (on cable and streaming) are very well-received and critically acclaimed, but there’s no critical mass behind them,” says Stacy Schulman, executive Vice President of strategy and analytics for Katz Media Group.

“People are still having a hard time finding them. Many viewers don’t even know that they exist,” Schulman added.

“Stranger Things” was the most-watched streaming or cable nominee, viewed by 21 per cent of respondents. “Master of None”, “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Atlanta” tied at 5 per cent each for the least-watched of all nominees — although “Master of None” exceeded all nominees in “never heard of” responses, at 76 per cent.